The Future of Nonprofit Boards is the Nonprofit Future
By Cecilia Sepp, CAE, ACNP
As associations and other nonprofits face uncertainty in an era of rapid change, it is a reminder to all of us that we need to approach our work and our communities differently. What used to work, or “the way we’ve always done it,” is not a plan for today or tomorrow.
Last year, Scott Hodges, formerly of the Tax Foundation, issued a white paper titled “Reining in America’s $3.3 Trillion Tax-Exempt Economy.” He makes the argument that nonprofits should pay a 21% corporate tax rate because they are competing with similar for-profit entities. While I am an advocate and supporter of the nonprofit community, I had to admit that he pointed out a lot of holes in the system that unscrupulous groups take advantage of to avoid federal income tax.
Unfortunately, most people in the nonprofit profession did not take this paper as the danger signal that it is. Everyone got all worked up about “paying taxes” and ignored all the other warnings in this paper.
To me, this paper is a wake-up call for all nonprofits – we need to pay more attention to the entire community and less attention to the annual meeting logo colors.
How can we change and take stewardship of our profession? We all know that success for nonprofits begins and ends with the Board leadership-Staff leadership relationship. Is there a road map for that?
Jeff De Cagna AIMP FRSA FASAE, Curator and Editor, Future of Association Boards (FAB) Community Dialogue, is a well-known consultant focusing on improving board performance through education and new board participation models. Throughout 2025, he has led the FAB Community Dialogue on boards and the future. Based on these conversations, he created a report with suggestions and opportunities for changing our approach to leadership.
You can get the report here (no fee or data required) – thanks to re:Members for supporting this work: https://www.remembers.com/guide/future-of-association-boards-fab-community-dialogue-report/
As a participant in this group, I know that we had deep and meaningful conversations. We helped create the recommendations Jeff shares in the report. But – and isn’t there always one?
None of this work means anything unless we as the nonprofit management profession come together and act on it. Ideas are great but they require follow-through. For years, we have talked about improving governance and improving board performance. Yet, we continue to hear stories about boards that don’t understand their role or the role of the staff leadership. We hear stories about operations and governance systems that are just broken – and it seems it will never be fixed “because-because-because.”
We always find reasons not to change then admit that it is required for our long-term survival. Let’s find the reasons to do things differently and move forward as a united profession. We can no longer abdicate responsibility for the way things are. There is too much at stake as we continue to face external pressures and dangers to the nonprofit community.
If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
